Justification:
The reason for rating this species as Near Threatened and not Least Concern is due to the continued and escalating poaching in recent years and the high illegal demand for horn (as determined from intelligence gathering by wildlife investigators and increased black market prices and increased poaching and theft of horn). Current successful protection efforts have depended on significant range state expenditure and effort and if these were to decline (especially in South Africa) rampant poaching could seriously threaten numbers (well in excess of 30% over three generations). Declining state budgets for conservation in real terms, declining capacity in some areas and increasing involvement of SE Asians in Africa are all of concern. Poaching levels have also increased in South Africa and Zimbabwe with increasing involvement of organised criminal networks. In the absence of conservation measures, within five years the species would quickly meet the threshold for C1 under Vulnerable, and potentially also criterion A3 if poaching were to take off.